Louisiana ranks No. 47 in K-12 education analysis

Louisiana was rated fifth worst for the performance of its K-12 public education system in a study by the Cato Institute that challenges other influential rankings of student achievement.

The Cato study contends other state rankings that have shaped public debates over education policy, including reports by U.S. News & World Report and Education Week, study factors that don’t have a direct bearing on student learning. These studies also lump diverse student populations together rather than comparing students in the same ethnic and socioeconomic groups who live in different states, the Cato study says.

The study authors say their rating provides a less biased evaluation of state public education systems than the more traditional rankings.

In terms of average aggregated scores based on academic tests administered by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), Louisiana ranked No. 49. The state ranked No. 45 on the U.S. News analysis.

States in New England and the Midwest tended to have lower rankings than what the other studies concluded, the Cato analysis says, while Southern and Southwestern states had higher rankings than in the more traditional studies. Moreover, Southern and Southwestern states scored a further rise in their rankings when efficiency in education spending is taken into account, according to Cato.

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How Do States Measure Up on K-12 Student Learning?

Quality Rank

State

Aggregatred Rank

U.S. News Rank

1

Virginia

5

12

2

Massachusetts

1

1

3

Florida

16

40

4

New Jersey

2

3

5

District of Columbia

51

—

6

Texas

35

33

7

Maryland

24

13

8

Georgia

32

35

9

Wyoming

6

34

10

Indiana

6

17

11

North Dakota

17

28

12

Montana

22

10

13

North Carolina

26

23

14

New Hampshire

3

2

15

Colorado

14

30

16

Nebraska

9

15

17

Delaware

35

18

18

Washington

10

26

19

Ohio

14

36

20

Connecticut

11

5

21

Arizona

38

48

22

South Dakota

19

22

23

Kentucky

29

24

24

Illinois

28

14

25

Kansas

22

27

26

Pennsylvania

12

11

27

Missouri

26

19

28

Vermont

8

4

29

South Carolina

44

43

30

Tennessee

37

29

31

New York

30

31

32

Iowa

17

8

33

Minnesota

4

7

34

Mississippi

46

47

35

California

41

44

36

Michigan

33

21

37

Hawaii

39

32

38

Idaho

19

25

39

Utah

12

20

40

Rhode Island

30

9

41

Oklahoma

40

42

42

New Mexico

50

50

43

Alaska

48

46

44

Nevada

44

49

45

Oregon

33

37

46

Wisconsin

19

16

47

Louisiana

49

45

48

Arkansas

43

38

49

Maine

24

6

50

West Virginia

42

41

51

Alabama

47

39

Source: Cato Institute; National Center for Education Statistics; National Assessment of Education Progress.

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